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In the mid-1800S, Austrian monk Gregor Mendel proposed that traits passed from parents to offspring followed observable patterns. At the same time, Charles Darwin published his theories on natural selection of advantageous traits and adaptations. Their ideas upended biological science, but while they were pondering pea plants and birds, they may as well have been examining the product development cycle of, say, the 2013 SRT Viper.

More than two decades after its launch, the Viper remains something of an outsider. We’ve put it up against domestic competition from Chevrolet’s Corvette, and against the best of Europe and Asia. But it never seemed to fit quite right in any of those categories. It was too raw and uncompromised, almost to a fault. How, then, does one go about updating such a car for the modern world?

That question was pondered long and hard in the deep, dark recesses of Chrysler headquarters. In the end, it was decided that the Viper had become an icon, and as such, there could be no wholesale redesign of the car. Evolutionary changes were called for, ones that would improve the car’s performance, design, and value without losing the elemental incivility that makes the Viper special.

The result is a car that has clearly adapted to its environment, but that still carves its own path. It remains a V-10-powered, rear-drive beast with side-exit exhaust pipes and no automatic transmission option. It’s a car that Viper purists can appreciate, but can still appeal to supercar connoisseurs, or so the SRT people hope.

Some adaptations were unavoidable. Stability control is now mandated by law, so for the first time ever, it’s standard on the Viper. Anticipating the potential blowback, SRT says its engineers spent nearly as much time developing the stability control system as they did the rest of the car. The goal was to create a system that would help drivers when needed without their noticing. It even does a bit of torque vectoring with the brakes to keep wayward drivers out of ditches. Of course, if you’re feeling brave, you can always just turn the system off and try your luck.

The adaptations didn’t stop there. The drive-by-wire throttle was retuned for quicker response, while the steering ratio was quickened to remove nearly a full turn lock-to-lock and the track width was increased to its widest ever. The standard dampers were upgraded to Bilstein aluminum-bodied units with coil-over springs, and optional electronically adjustable shocks have been added to the mix. Those springs are significantly stiffer and continue to hold down an all-aluminum suspension that uses upper and lower control arms at all four corners. Each corner also suspends a 14-inch brake disc — solid or optional two-piece — with a four-piston Brembo caliper and conservative 19-inch wheels wrapped for the first time in Pirelli tires — PZeros or optional Corsas — rather than Michelins.

Providing Herculean forces for the updated suspension to contend with is the familiar 8.4-liter overhead-valve V-10, but it too has adapted. The intake manifold is composite, lowering the engine’s weight and center of gravity. Cooling has been improved to even out temperatures across the long block of cylinders. The valves are lighter, and, on the exhaust side, filled with sodium. The rotating assembly is now entirely forged, from the pistons to the connecting rods to the crankshaft. The refinements result in an extra 40 hp and 40 lb-ft of torque, totaling 640 hp and 600 lb-ft of torque. “Truck engine” this ain’t.

The engine now revs more freely to its 6200-rpm redline, thanks to a lightweight aluminum flywheel. It continues to turn a Tremec six-speed manual transmission, but the box has been reworked to reduce shift effort and increase accuracy. SRT has also tightened up the gear ratios for better acceleration and swapped out the old 3.55 rear end for a new 3.07 gear set, still with standard limited-slip differential. The result: an extra 5 mph on the top end for an estimated top speed of 206 mph.

All the power in the world, though, does no good without a proper chassis. Determined to prove the Viper could do more than drive in a straight line, SRT took lessons from the track. The frame itself has been lightened by 25 pounds and stiffened up. A massive piece of cast magnesium creates the firewall, perhaps the largest automotive application of the material yet, Chrysler claims. A tubular X-brace crisscrosses the engine, not for show but to improve torsional rigidity on the track. SRT says the chassis is now 50 percent stiffer when it comes time to twist.

SRT also found weight savings in the body. The hood, roof, hatch, and door sills are now carbon fiber. The doors are aluminum, while the fenders and bumpers are reinforced plastic. SRT engineers say they’ve removed about 100 pounds of weight from the car, despite all the extra bits they’ve added. That beautifully curvaceous body is functional, too. The drag coefficient is down to 0.36, and every scoop and vent is functional and improves either cooling or aerodynamics.

The biggest extra bit, of course, is the interior. The old Viper’s interior was cheap. It was one of the biggest turn-offs for potential cross-shoppers, projecting an image of low quality and poor design. None of that can be said for the new interior. SRT set three goals: materials, craftsmanship, and quality. The leather, the designers say, is of the same quality demanded by Bentley and Lamborghini. The seats are made by Sabelt, the company used by Ferrari, because, upon seeing the first seats SRT came up with, Sergio Marchionne remarked, “What the **** are these Barcaloungers doing in here?” The new seats also have more travel, a boon for taller drivers. The center console and shifter have been lowered an inch for comfort and ease of shifting. Even the air vents are multipiece affairs, made of plastic rather than metal to save weight.

That’s not to say the Viper has gone soft on us. SRT will offer two models at launch, the Viper and the Viper GTS. The “base” Viper is aimed at the purists, the no-frills, hard-core fans. It gets a basic black interior, black headlight buckets and brake calipers, polished five-spoke wheels, a body-color rear trim panel, non-adjustable Bilstein shocks, and an old SRT10-style hood with six gaping vents. Chrysler’s 8.4-inch touch-screen infotainment system is standard, but now features custom background images matched to the interior color and special SRT functions like engine output displays, extra gauges, g meters, and a lap timer that can save your track results and send them to a website where you can share them with your friends. Also standard is a 7-inch digital display in the center of the gauges that can be reconfigured to show in-car functions, a g meter, lap timers, and, of course, the tach. To top it off, a red Viper logo fades into the center of the tach as you approach redline.

The GTS, aimed at winning over Audi, Porsche, and Lamborghini (but not Ferrari) buyers, goes all out. It has unique wheels, graphite black trim on the brake ducts and headlights, exposed carbon fiber on the rear panel, harman/kardon audio, red brake calipers, and an even more luxurious interior. Color and trim options abound, and there’s more to come. SRT learned during the last run of 2010 models that customers loved the customizability, so you’ll see plenty of it on the new car. In fact, the company eventually wants to be able to offer complete customizability, just like Porsche, AMG, and the rest. Special packages, such as a carbon-fiber package, are already under consideration.

When it launches in the fourth quarter of this year following its New York debut, the SRT Viper will be the first ever to launch as a coupe. Why? Because of racers. Viper owners race their cars, and more and more tracks are demanding fixed roofs for safety reasons. But what about the Roadster? “Stay tuned,” SRT says. SRT isn’t talking price yet, either, but it’s going up.

The Viper made its name on racetracks around the world, and SRT isn’t abandoning that reputation. A factory-built race car will also debut in New York and go on sale to privateers around the same time as the coupe.

The new SRT Viper is a product of its predecessors. It’s still a raw, track-focused sports car that refuses to give in to pressures from cupholder lobbyists and dual-clutch transmission promoters. At the same time, it’s come forward into the present day with a proper interior and an attention to detail sure to attract the attention of new customers.

Advantageous traits retained, poor traits discarded. Adaptations made, but still unique to its environment. It’s not a musclecar. It’s not an exotic. It’s a Viper.

2013 SRT VIPER

Base price

$95,000 (MT est)

Vehicle layout

Front-engine, RWD, 2-pass, 2-door hatchback

Engine

8.4L/640-hp (est)/600-lb-ft (est) OHV 20-valve V-10

Transmission

6-speed manual

Curb weight

3300 lb (mfr)

Wheelbase

98.8 in

Length x width x height

175.7 x 76.4 x 49.1 in

0-60 mph

3.3 sec (MT est)

EPA city/hwy fuel econ

Not yet rated

The Viper, According to Ralph Gilles

“We had the privilege to design the Viper — not the right,” SRT brand president Ralph Gilles told Motor Trend. Gilles and his team were faced with a tough decision. Evolve the Viper’s design as in the past, or tear it up and start over? After considerable debate and clinics with owners of Vipers, R8s, Lamborghinis, and all other manner of supercars, the answer was clear: The Viper’s shape is “iconic,” as Gilles puts it, and you don’t mess with an icon. The long hood, the “extreme cab-rearward” design, the double-bubble roof, the big “gill” vents on the sides, the side-exit exhaust: “These are forms that Viper owns,” said Gilles.

Gilles started by opening the design competition to the whole office. They weren’t given much direction. Gilles wanted to see what they each thought the Viper should be. From their submissions, a final design was whittled out and, still lacking official approval, designers began working nights and weekends in a locked room to come up with a design. If you see a lot of 1996 GTS Coupe, you’re not alone. Even Gilles admits that car had a big influence on the new Viper’s design.

One of Gilles’ mandates, aside from “no cupholders,” was that every scoop and vent be functional. In the nose, scoops feed the radiator and the front brakes. In the hood, they feed the engine while vents release hot air. Even the scoops behind the side windows are functional — they send cool air down to the rear brakes. The car you see here, according to Gilles, is nearly identical to the concept. Small changes made to the front fascia improve high-speed stability and top speed, and the rear deck was altered slightly.

When he could no longer hide the project, Gilles brought Sergio Marchionne to the studio and surprised him with a full-size model. While Marchionne wasn’t thrilled with the deception, he was stunned by the car. With his help, the same trick was soon pulled on the board.

“I remember Sergio shushing everyone,” Gilles said of the board review. “He just wanted to look at it.”

A Delicate Balance

If there’s anything the Viper’s known for, it’s the car’s low-tech approach to speed. No automatic or dual-clutch transmissions, no stability control, no AWD, no torque vectoring, not even forced induction. There’s an allure in that minimalism, to be sure, but the Viper had to evolve in order to stay on the market. After all, stability control is federally mandated now.

The SRT team worked for a balance between modern technology and purist ideology. Per brand president Ralph Gilles, the development team spent nearly half its time working on the stability control. The goal, Gilles said, was to create a system that would assist the driver in a way that he wouldn’t even notice. Just enough help to make you feel like a hero behind the wheel — nothing obtrusive or frustrating. Of course, if you’re still not convinced after you’ve driven it, you can turn it all off and “you’re on your own,” Gilles added.

Further aiding the driver is a standard limited-slip differential and, Gilles conceded, a small amount of torque vectoring via the brakes when stability control is engaged. The drive-by-wire throttle has been retuned for quicker response, and the steering ratio has been reduced for quicker reactions. Bilstein shock absorbers are standard, but electronically adjustable shocks are optional and provide Street and Track levels of stiffness.

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